Join us at Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum for a design-focussed talk with Beirut-based architect, forest-maker, and Tarabot lead designer Adib Dada, founder of Regenerative Consultancy and Architecture Practice theOtherDada, in conversation with Dima Boulad, Design Research Lead at Dubai Design Lab. Beginning with a guided walkthrough of Tarabot, the talk will engage with this breakthrough pavilion as a case study to propose how regional designers, architects, makers and thinkers can engage with human-centric and life-centric practices to enable all forms of life to thrive in cities.

Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum acts as an interspecies ecotone – an area where two biological communities meet and integrate – hosting a shared space between human and more-than-human entities, and creating synergies between the natural world and manmade environments. Made of modular and nested conical components, the cones are crafted from locally sourced, sustainable materials including clay, mycelium, date palm waste and upcycled fabric. The pavilion is a call for the revival of urban spaces, through a focus on the hyperlocal use of resources and the creation of circular ecological support systems within new and existing material structures. Its design incorporates four pillars that speak to its concept, construction and de-installation: Soil, Water, Energy, and Plants.

Programme:

• 7:00-7:30 pm – Tour of Tarabot with Adib Dada
• 7:30-8:10 pm  – Talk: ‘Human-centric Meets Life-centric Design’ –  with Adib Dada and Dima Boulad
• 8:10-8:30 pm  – Q&A and open discussion

This talk is the first iteration of the Tarabot Talks series – a programme devised by Art Jameel with theOtherDada

Free to attend. Open to all. Refreshments will be provided. RSVP here.

Designed by theOtherDada, Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum is commissioned by Art Jameel and supported by Abdul Latif Jameel Saudi Arabia.

Adib Dada is the founder of theOtherDada [tOD] Regenerative Consultancy & Architecture, whose mission is to activate projects across architecture, design, and art by creating unconventional links at the frontier of science. Going beyond traditional architecture, his work employs a holistic and biomimetic design approach with nature and people at its core. Adib served on the Supporting Committee of the Beirut Art Center, and sits on the Board of Tandem Works and Saja Foundation. He earned a BA in Architecture at the American University of Beirut, an MA in the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, and completed the Biomimicry graduate certificate from the Biomimicry Institute and Arizona State University.  Adib was listed as one of GOOD Magazine’s GOOD 100 for his project Beirut RiverLESS, which he initiated to implement positive urban interventions including the planting of urban native forests alongside Beirut River and in the city at large. He is a Fellow of the Middle East Leadership Initiative, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a Bio-Leadership Fellow.

Dima Boulad is the Design Research Lead at the Dubai Design Lab, an action lab under Dubai Future Foundation that harnesses the power of design & creativity to place Dubai among the world’s most liveable cities. With over 14 years of experience in the design field, she has partnered with both public and private organizations to tackle complex social issues using human-centered and planet-friendly design approaches. Dima‘s passion lies in humanizing cities by creating experiences, strategies and policies that fosters an inclusive urban environment.

theOtherDada is a Beirut-based regenerative consultancy and architecture practice founded by Adib Dada, working with nature to build shared habitats for humans and other organisms to thrive. They are Lebanon’s first BCorp certified company built on the firm belief that businesses have the responsibility and opportunity to action meaningful, positive impact. tOD takes an alternative approach to sustainability, through the deep consideration of context and medium of their work- fostering new relationships between climate, landscape, and inhabitants.  Their research in biomimicry enables a conscious connection to the natural ecosystems of sites to build interspecies habitats.